


One and a Half Souls

by zxnchie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alcohol, Apocalypse, Blood, Blood and Gore, Character Death, M/M, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Tears, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25247389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zxnchie/pseuds/zxnchie
Summary: In the middle of a biological warfare, Tokyo was doused in a chemical which turned half the population into half-dead raw meat cravers.  Koutarou Bokuto, Kenma Kozume, and Tetsurou Kuroo were lucky enough to avoid the infection, but Keiji Akaashi wasn't as lucky.Koutarou refuses to give up on his boyfriend, no matter how disgusting he may look, or how much raw meat he may crave
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou & Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Past Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei - Relationship
Comments: 13
Kudos: 26





	1. 3 and a Half

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to shirabooty for beta reading!

They say love makes you do crazy things. An invisible bond so strong that it drags those captured in it to the edge of death and back.

Koutarou Bokuto was ensnared in the ruthless grip of love. Love for none other than the old setter for his high school volleyball team, Keiji Akaashi.

The love was requited, a fact Koutarou was ecstatic to learn. Once Keiji had graduated, Koutarou gave a teary confession which Keiji returned with the most emotion Koutarou had ever seen out of him. Their friends gave them congratulatory claps on their backs as they hugged, they all had known the two were bound to get together.

Life after this was picturesque. Keiji went on to attend a well-known college while Koutarou got a job and continued practicing volleyball. After only two months of dating, the two pooled together their savings and began to rent a cheap apartment together. The living situation wasn’t ideal- rodents were a common sight as well as insects- but they were together and willing to look past that.

Fond memories of what they did in the apartment were buzzing around in Koutarou’s mind. Pure panic had seized his stomach and showed no signs of letting go. Fear swirled in his gut, bringing with it a faint layer of nausea- which the smell of rotting corpses did nothing to help. Screams of agony and despair filled his ears as people in similar situations took to the streets. The situation being the loss of a loved one.

-

It had only been a day since Tokyo was attacked. One moment a beautiful show of planes were flying overhead- a thin mist coming out from under them-, the next screams filled the air as horrified bystanders watched their skin burn. The people who were lucky enough to be inside or under some sort of cover, watched with terror as the burning people lost all humanity. As soon as their screams stopped, the half-dead humans began making their way towards those who were protected from the attack.

Koutarou was lucky to be in the gym during this time. He didn’t feel lucky though. In fact, he felt quite the contrary. Keiji was out shopping for food during the attack. After seeing the half-dead humans crawling the streets, Koutarou could only hope that Keiji had finished shopping earlier and was simply waiting for him at their apartment.

Though, he found this to not be the case. Back at his apartment though, he did find Kenma and Tetsurou. The lack of Keiji brought tears to Koutarou’s eyes.

“Hey, Bo,” Tetsurou whispered, wrapping an arm around his friend’s shaking form.

“He’s, he’s not here? Where is he?” Koutarou forced out between sobs.

“Bo… we’re here. Your friends are here for you,” Tetsurou tried, turning away from Koutarou to hide his own tears at the loss of Keiji.

A pale Kenma was sitting on the apartment couch, not quite knowing what to do. He had played countless zombie-themed games but living it was a whole new thing.

“I’ll make food,” Kenma offered quietly, making his way to the kitchen.

Nodding to Kenma, Tetsurou guided Koutarou to the couch and sat him down. Koutarou buried his face into Testurous chest

When Kenma finally brought out 3 bowls of steaming food, Koutarou refused to eat more than a couple of mouthfuls before excusing himself to his bedroom.

Kenma and Tetsurou shared a look of concern as Koutarou retreated.

When morning came, he awoke with a new fire in his eyes. After grabbing a granola bar and giving his two friends a half-assed greeting, he ran out of the apartment and began the search for Keiji.

-

Every inch of his mind was screaming at him, common sense begged and pleaded for him to return to the safety of his apartment, but burning love urged him on. Koutarou’s eyes were wide and scanning the terrain in search of Keiji’s familiar form. A couple of steps to the right was a rotting shell of a human slowly eating another alive. Koutarou forced himself to look away as the human looked him in the eyes and mouthed the word ‘help.’

Blinking away his tears, Koutarou continued on with a new speed, trying his best to ignore the giant ball of dread resting in his core. An out of place cement block yanked Koutarou to the ground. Tears began to flow freely as his adrenaline died down. His chest rose and fell with quick short breaths as he attempted to get oxygen back and coursing through his body. The image of Keiji being in the exact same position as the human from earlier brought a whole nother wave of grief crashing down onto him. Koutarou adjusted himself to lean back against the cinderblock.

Once his heart rate and breathing slowed a bit, he slowly began to pull himself to his feet. His face was void of almost all hope as he scanned the area around him. 3 half-deads were behind him and slowly making their way over. Fear seized him as the memory of what he witnessed just minutes ago flashed through his mind.

Turning forward, he ran to the direction of a food store, the one Keiji often shops at. He ignored all the half-deads who turned their heads in favor of getting to the store as fast as possible. As soon as he entered the parking lot out front of the store, his eyes fell onto the incredibly familiar car which had an equally familiar shape in it.

A wide smile broke out on his face as Koutarou made his way to the car. As he got closer, he could see the person in the car was slumped over slightly, tufts of silky dark hair hiding their face. Koutarou knew this was Keiji. With a new hope inside of him, he swung open the car door and hugged Keiji. Tears of happiness fell out of his eyes and onto Keiji’s shoulder.

Though, Keiji didn’t hug back. Koutarou was just about to kiss Keiji when he felt a warm sludge fall on his shoulders and roll down his back. Shocked and confused, he pulled back and took a proper look at Keiji.

Or what use to be Keiji.

His once mesmerizing eyes were now a solid light blue, with a thin screen of gloss covering them. His once oh-so-kissable lips were now stained with a deep red which ran down to the tip of his chin. Koutarou could only assume that is what was running down his back at this moment. Keiji’s once puffy cheeks were now thin, and his right one was now a window to the inside of his mouth.

“Keiji? No, you’re not Keiji. What did you do with Keiji? Where is he? Where is my love?” Koutarou asked in near hysterics, shaking the shoulders of the half-dead.

With an empty look, Keiji stared Koutarou in his panicked eyes. Slowly, he brought up his rotting arm and placed it on Koutarou’s shoulder.

“Kou…” he began, “ta...rou.”

Keiji’s voice was rough and far different from what it had been when he was fully human. A small smile accompanied his single word as he gently squeezed Koutarou’s shoulder.

“Keiji,” was all Koutarou could get out through tears.


	2. An Angry Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short! It's mostly a filler

The two sat together for no more than 2 minutes when Keiji’s smile faded. Hunger swirled through his eyes as a string of drool dripped from his bottom lip.

“Keiji? What are you doing?” Koutarou asked as the half-dead began to open his mouth and lean towards him.

“F… oo… d,” Keiji croaked.

“Shit. Shit! Well, don’t eat me!” Koutarou exclaimed, stepping away from Keiji.

His mind was searching for a solution which could end in both he and Keiji staying as alive as possible. Finally, he realized meat would work. As quickly as he could, Koutarou pulled open the trunk of the car and began fishing through groceries until he found what he wanted.

Holding the container of meat as though it was the rarest vase, he jogged back over to Keiji and handed the newly opened package to him.

With a wicked smile on his face, Keiji stuck his head into the meat and began slurping it up hungrily. A nasty slurping noise filled the air surrounding the two.

Guilty disgust flourished in Koutarou at how Keiji looked while guzzling down the meat.

“Kei? Can you get in a different seat?” Koutarou asked once Keiji threw the now-empty plastic to the ground.

“Hrmn,” the half-dead grunted, sliding out of the driver’s seat. Koutarou directed him to the passenger door where Keiji scratched at the door. Sighing, Koutarou pulled the door open and closed it once Keiji slipped in.

Koutarou sighed as he sank into the drivers seat. He brought his hand up to try and wipe the weariness from his face. Multiple emotions were fighting for dominance in his head as he went over what has happened over the past two days.

“Alright Kei, we’re going home. Our friends are there and they’ll know what to do,” Koutarou explained, rubbing Keiji’s shoulder.

“Hrmn”

Patting down his pockets, Koutarou pulled the car keys out stuck them into the ignition.

-

“Shit, where’s Bo?” Tetsurou panicked, pacing around the apartment.

“He might just need air,” Kenma offered, not knowing how to calm down his friend.

“Air? What fucking air? I doubt whatever’s out there is safe to breathe,” he snapped, eyes swirling with fury.

“I don’t know! I’m trying to stay optimistic Kuro!” Kenma snapped back, tears threatening to spill.

“Hey, Kitten I’m sorry for yelling. I just… don’t know what I’ll do if we lose Bo too,” guilt hung heavy on his tone as regret seeped in.

“Hmn,” Kenma looked Testurou in his eyes then walked away.

They sat on opposite sides of the room, the atmosphere tense. Kenma wanted to apologize to his friend, he wanted to hug him and comfort him, but something wouldn’t let him.

“Hey! Open the door!” A voice shouted from outside the apartment.

“Bo? Bo!” Tetsurou exclaimed, standing up as quick as humanly possible.

Sprinting over to the apartment door, Tetsurou opened the door.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed, taking huge steps away from the door.

“He’s alive!” Koutarou cried out, half carrying Keiji into the apartment.

A wide-eyed Kenma let out a yelp and ran into the bathroom, and judging by the noises coming out from the small room, he wasn’t brushing his teeth.

“Bo… no.” Tetsurou began, placing his hand on the center of his friends back, “He’s… Akaashi’s gone.”

“Kuh… roo… sss… san,” Keiji groaned, turning his glossy eyes to Tetsurou.

“What the fuck? What the everloving fuck?” Tetsurou cursed as he turned away from the half-dead.

“C’mon, dude! It’s Kei! He’s here! He can talk! That’s gotta amount for something!”

“He’s rotting!” Tetsurou yelled, gesturing to Keiji. As if on cue, a small chunk of skin fell to the ground.

“He’s Keiji! We can’t just give up on him!” Koutarou retorted, desperation clear in his expression.

A soft click caught the attention of the three. Turning to the source of the sound, they found Kenma shuffling out of the bathroom, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“See what that thing did to Kenma? We can’t keep it!”

Koutarou stepped in front of Keiji protectively.

“Keiji’s not an it! Are you forgetting whos apartment you’re in right now?” Koutarou shouted desperation swapped out with anger.

“He can talk…” Kenma muttered, looking up to the half-dead, “But how do we know he won’t eat us?”

“Oh! He eats any raw mea-” Koutarou began, but was cut off by Tetsurou’s booming voice.

“Are you seriously thinking of keeping it?” Tetsurou shouted in Kenma’s direction, causing the latter to wince away.

“We’ve already lost too many,” he began solemnly, “wouldn’t it be nice to keep one?”

Tetsurou’s face softened as he looked from Kenma’s distraught face to Koutarou’s desperate one to Keiji’s empty one.

“Bo… I’m sorry man, it’s been rough. I just, we don’t know what that thing, Keiji, can do. It’s dangerous and I don’t want to lose anyone else” Tetsurou reasoned, burying his face in his hands.

Koutarou walked over to his friend and wrapped him in a hug. The tense atmosphere began to melt as Tetsurou felt his anger dissipate. While those two were occupied, Kenma made his way to Keiji. 

“Is it really you?” Kenma asked, grabbing Keiji’s cold hand.

“Mrm,” he grunted, head tilting in a comforting manner.

“We’ll need to take safety precautions,” Tetsurou advised as he pulled away from the hug.

Koutarou nodded in response.

“We could get him a leash,” Kenma offered mindlessly, lost in Keji’s empty eyes.

“Oh! That could work, we already have one!” Koutarou exclaimed, disappearing into their bedroom.

Before Kenma and Tetsurou had a chance to question why the couple had a leash in their bedroom, Koutarou returned leash in hand. The collar was tall and leather with metal clasps on the back, it connected to a thick leather leash which was about 3 feet long. Koutarou walked over to Keiji and wrapped the collar around his throat, connecting it with a soft clack.

“Okay, perfect!” Koutarou chimed, twirling the end of the leash between his fingers.

“He’ll need to sleep in a locked room,” Tetsurou added.

“We could block off our closet,” Koutarou concluded.

“You need to change your shirt,” Kenma commented, just now noticing the large black-red stain.

Koutarou nodded then pulled off his shirt, being sure to keep the stain away from his head. He then discarded it in the kitchens trash bin.

“What was that anyway?” Tetsurou asked, mildly disgusted.

“Oh, Keiji coughed it up on me.”

As if in response, Keiji coughed up another mouthful of the sludge.

“Shit!” Tetsurou shouted as a grotesque pile formed on their carpet.

“Ermn,” Keiji grunted in guilt.

Kenma walked back to the bathroom, his head down.

“Well, he’s not gonna be perfect!” Koutarou commented sheepishly.


	3. 3.5 to 4 to 3.5 Souls

Kenma toyed with the frayed edge of the leather leash. The first night with Keiji had gone well, the half-dead didn’t seem to mind being in the closed closet space. Rubbing his soft thumb over the textured leather, Kenma studied the pattern of the leather- not that he was interested in it- he just wanted something to look at other than the drooling half-dead on the other half of the leash. Keiji’s foul odor drifted to Kenma’s nose, causing him to cringe away a bit. The whole scene felt a bit surreal. With a soft jangle and thud, Kenma let the leash fall to the floor. Ignoring Keiji’s curious look, he pinched himself hard. Pain erupted from the area. He sighed, part of him was hoping to not feel anything but to instead wake up from whatever nightmare he was currently trapped in.

“We should get supplies,” Kenma muttered, eyes glued to the leash on the floor.

“Yea. Bo and I could head out,” Tetsurou offered, already getting to his feet, “Will you be fine here with it?”

“Keiji’s not an it,” Koutarou interrupted, giving his friend a look of disapproval.

“Yea, yea. My question stands. Kitten, will you be fine here?”

Kenma gave a short nod, keeping his gaze down.

“Alrighty then,” Tetsurou began, a yawn invading his words, “Hey, Bo, do you have a knife or something? I know you were fine yesterday, but we’re actually going in places now and I’d feel better with protection.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to check.”

Koutarou walked out of the room leaving Tetsurou and Kenma. The former of the two made his way over to the latter and began massaging small circles into his back. Kenma welcomed the feeling, his posture wasn’t the best and he couldn’t remember the last time he went a day without back pain. Turning his head to the right a bit, Kenma nodded his thanks. He then turned to face Keiji for the first time all morning.

Previously, Kenma had failed to get a good look at the half-dead- a result of his painfully weak stomach- but he decided he couldn’t keep running away like that. Swallowing down his disgust, Kenma studied Keiji up and down. They hadn’t been able to change him- fear of whatever lay under the clothes preventing it- so his clothes remained coated and dirt and other unknown substances. Keiji’s previously blue jeans were now a mixture of red-brown and black, and his previously white tee was brown with a black trail down the middle. Blotches of red were dotted around, but nothing deep enough to scream ‘hey look how bloody my shirt is!’

His skin though, well that was another story. His usual bright skin tone with a light yellow undertone was now dull with a green undertone. The only way Kenma could think to describe it is zombish. Areas of bone were exposed in random areas where flesh had burnt off. It was at this point Kenma needed to close his eyes and focus on Tetsurou’s hands. Leaning back and swallowing thickly, he continued to think of the half-dead directly in front of him. In his head, he compared Keiji’s new appearance to his old.

The difference was shocking.

“He’s really changed, huh,” Tetsurou whispered as though he had read Kenma’s thoughts.

“Yeah.”

They sat there for a second. Kenma’s eyes closed with his head leaning on Tetsurou’s chest and Tetsurou with a sad look in Keiji’s direction.

“Hey hey hey!” Koutarou cheered as he reentered the room, “I’ve got weapons!”

Kenma jumped at the sudden energy in the room. Even Tetsurou couldn’t hide his minor shock.

“We’ll be back, kitten,” he whispered, then raising his voice he added, “great Bo, do you have a plan of where we should go? We should get a shopping list.”

“Well, the store of course. I think that's it. As long as we have food we should be fine.”

“And your car works right? Shouldn’t we get gas for it?”

“Oh yea! The tanks almost empty, but I’m sure we have enough to get to the closest gas station,” Koutarou informed

The two gave their goodbyes to Kenma and Keiji, then walked out the apartment leaving the two in unbearable silence.

-

As they made their way out of the building, Koutarou passed one of two machetes to Tetsurou.

“Thanks, bro.”

“No problem, bro.”

They continued to walk in silence, Koutarou fidgeting with the hem of his shirt while searching for something, anything, to say.

“Hey, bro? I’m sorry,” he began.

“For what?” Tetsurou replied, turning his head in his friend's direction.

“Keiji.”

Tetsurou paused, not wanting to continue the conversation. There was no good way for it to end. Either Tetsurou loses his shit or Koutarou does- worst case-scenario is they both do. Though, the silence seemed to be worse.

“It’s fine, man. I’m just scared that something’ll happen to Kenma. I couldn’t handle that, you know I couldn’t.”

Sadness stabbed Koutarou at his friend's words. His heart yearned to hear his signature laugh again, he’ll even settle for a smirk. Koutarou missed the good times he had shared with his closest friend.

“Yea, I know,” a pause,” what do you say we pick up some beer at the store?”

“I’d like that.”

They walked in silence for a little while longer until they reached Keiji’s car. Koutarou opened the passenger door for Tetsurou before walking around and taking a seat in the drivers.

“Aw man, what the hell is this?” Cried Tetsurou as he sat in a puddle of goo.

Koutarou decided it would be better to withhold that information from him.

“So, gas first,” Koutarou thought out loud, shifting the gear into reverse.

-

The gas-run went by smoothly, the trunk of the car had a couple of empty gas cans which they filled up along with the tank. Koutarou was lucky enough to have remembered his wallet which had just enough cash to pay for the gas.

Warm, humid air surrounded the station, the clouds a swirling mixture of light and dark brown which cast a golden glow onto the Earth below. Koutarou didn’t have time to think about what caused the peculiar hue before Tetsurou slammed the car door.

A couple of half-deads turned their heads at the sudden noise, but none made an effort to attack. Tetsurou assumed none had gone without food for long enough to be feral, which he was grateful for. Though, the back of his mind knew the peace wouldn’t last for long.

-

As it turns out, the back of his mind was correct. The two were able to enter the store rather easily. In fact, the two already had 3 baskets filled with food and drink and were heading back to the car before the incident struck.

At first, they were able to ignore the half-dead to the far right of them and continue the walk to the curb where they had parked the car. However, the half-dead refused to let them go so easily.

“Shit, Bo can you handle it? I’ll put the food in the trunk,” Tetsurou asked, noting the half-dead which was approaching them alarmingly quick.

Koutarou nodded, handing the basket he was carrying over to his friend then pulling out his machete. His breathing quickened as he dropped into a defensive stance. Adrenaline began building up and soon all he could hear was his own blood pumping. Then, the slamming of a car door, though the sound was distant and hollow, as though Koutarou was deep in a cave and the car was at the mouth. Butterflies aggressively attacked his stomach as nervousness intertwined with determination and punched him in the gut.

Swallowing deeply and clenching his jaw, Koutarou pulled his arm back. As the zombie grew closer, it’s features became clearer. Short fluffy black hair hugged the half-dead’s saggy dark skin. Similarly to Keiji, the half-deads upturned eyes were a light blue with a thin sheen of white. In fact, a lot of features on this half-dead were familiar. Koutarou squinted his golden eyes at the half-dead, trying to remember why he was so recognizable. 

Then he realized.

The half-dead was none other than Nobuyuki Kai, Tetsuro’s old vice-captain for the Nekoma volleyball club.

Koutarou had never gotten too close to him, but three years of playing volleyball in the same prefecture makes you closer than strangers. In fact, the two had shared a fair amount of conversations during summer camps.

No, now wasn’t the time to think about that. The person- if he could be called that anymore- was a threat. Keiji hadn’t tried to attack Koutarou at first and that’s the only reason they had been able to keep him. Nobuyuki on the other hand had an angry expression. His hands were clawed and prepared to scratch at Koutarou.

Shaking away his feelings, Koutarou ran towards the half-dead with a yell. Bringing his right hand forward as fast as possible, he stabbed the machete down into Nobuyuki’s skull. It was surprisingly easy, Koutarou could only assume this was a result of the chemical.

Nobuyuki opened his mouth to let out a flood of black sludge. His eyes were still narrowed in anger, an expression Koutarou had never seen on the real Nobuyuki. Koutarou couldn’t help but to imagine this situation with Keiji. What if he had arrived at the car too late? What if Koutarou had been killed and eaten by Keiji? He sure as hell wouldn’t have been able to kill his love, no matter how violent he had gotten.

Blinking away tears he hadn’t even noticed, Koutarou wiggled the knife out of Nobuyuki’s head. The half-dead fell to the floor with a soft thud. Koutarou was frozen, his eyes wide and looking at the limp body at his feet.

Tetsurou pushing down on the car horn finally brought him back to Earth. Koutarou quickly jogged back to the car and hopped into the passenger.

He decided to keep the identity of the half-dead a secret from Tetsurou.

-

Back at the apartment, things were relatively mundane. Kenma was sitting on the couch maintaining eye contact with the half-dead sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the floor.

It was hard to ignore the humor in the situation, Kenma never expected to see Keiji in a position like this- ‘this’ meaning sitting like a child with a collar and a leash. As if to add to the ridiculousness, Keiji let his tongue hang loosely out his mouth.

At this point, Kenma couldn’t hold back his laugh. He rolled back onto the couch allowing each laugh to flow out of his mouth. Letting lose was amazing, it was hard to remember the last time he had been able to genuinely laugh. Even Keiji got in, letting out groans which vaguely resembled laughter. The frog-like noise only encouraged Kenma’s laughing fit. Tears edged the bottom of his eyes as his abdominals began aching from the force of his laughs.

Letting out a high pitched sigh, Kenma pulled himself back up.

“Maybe you’re not so bad,” he mumbled under his breath.

Keiji gave a small grin.

“Th… an… k… u.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put that scene at the end in to counter everything that went down


	4. 3 Drunk Souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE IS A MENTIONED CAR CRASH IN THIS CHAPTER, IF THAT BOTHERS YOU, THEN STOP READING WHEN THE FLASHBACK BEGINS

A heavy silence sat in the car the whole way home. Tetsurou wanted to give his friend words of encouragement, but the empty look on Koutarou’s face scared him away. Blood dotted where Tetsurou’s canine was digging into his lip. He had never been happier to know they were having beer later.

After what felt like hours, but was more likely 10 minutes, the two arrived back at their safehouse. With a sigh, Koutarou grabbed two baskets and began the walk to their room. Tetsurou did the same, looking at Koutarou’s muscular back with furrowed eyebrows. His mind was frantically searching for a way to console his friend before they reached the others.

“Do you wanna talk about it, Bo?” He finally asked in a quiet voice.

Another deep sigh rolled out of Koutarou as he stopped his movement to turn and face his friend.

“No, not really.”

Koutarou’s characteristically bright eyes were dim, a heavy shadow dampening what once was a shining gold. A cold shiver wriggled its way down Tetsurou’s spine.

“Let’s keep walking. This beer’s not going to drink itself.”

They both nodded, then continued the short walk.

Gold glittered back into the owl-like man's eyes as he spotted Keiji sitting on the floor near the couch. At the sound of the door opening, Keiji perked up, his bland eyes wide with excitement. Sluggishly, the half-dead bought himself to his feet and made his way over to the door. Arms wide, he allowed himself to fall into Koutarou’s similarly open arms. Keiji’s pungent smell slapped Tetsurou in the face, but Koutarou showed no reaction. Quietly stepping away, Tetsurou entered the apartment in search of Kenma.

The apartment was neater then when they had left, Kenma would never clean without being asked- even then he was stubborn- which left only Keiji. This confused Tetsurou, the half-dead didn’t appear to be in any condition for physical activities, in fact, it was hard to believe that Keiji could even understand the concept of clean or dirty. He didn’t exactly complain about wearing such a dirty outfit.

A soft rustling refocused his attention on the task at hand- finding Kenma. Tetsurou tilted his head towards the source of the noise, sitting there was a suspiciously Kenma shaped lump. Fighting back a smile, Tetsurou tiptoed over, being sure to remain as quiet as possible. Once he was within arms reach of the lump, he pulled the soft throw off with a flourish.

“Uwaa!” Cried Kenma as cool air rushed to his skin.

His eyes were dazed, as though he had just woken up from a nap. Which wouldn’t be too shocking, considering Kenma’s lazy nature. A thin line of slightly dried drool stained his chin, as well as a drop of the pillow under his head. His legs were bent at the knees with his feet tucked in the crease between the couch cushions. Once the blanket was pulled off, Kenma quickly pulled his feet out from the crease, bringing them up to his chest. To keep them in place, his left arm was stretched across his legs, hugging them tightly. Kenma’s right wrist was tucked behind him, buried under the pillow.

Much to the half-asleep person's dismay, Tetsurou forced himself on the couch. The added body squished Kenma against the cushion.

“C’mon you big b-” Kenma started, only to be interrupted by Koutarou’s booming voice.

“Hey hey hey! Kuroo and I brought back some Sake!”

Shock struck Tetsurou at how fast his friend's attitude shifted. Sure during volleyball, he got in and out of his emo modes, but that was something completely different. How could anyone bounce back that quickly after experiencing something that violent? Though, after taking a closer look, Tetsurou could see the smallest hint of sadness hidden behind his eyes.

Deciding it best to play along with Koutarou’s high energy, Tetsurou pulled himself up off the couch and made his way over to the apartment door. Keiji was clung around Koutarou’s waist. Who would’ve thought that turning into a zombie would make someone so clingy? Trying his best to ignore the foul stench on the other side of Koutarou, Tetsurou swung his arm over his friend’s shoulders, pulling him close.

“So, shall we?” Tetsurou asked, giving Koutarou a smirk.

“We shall.”

At that, Koutarou and Keiji disappeared into the kitchen while Tetsurou reached down and picked up two bottles with a clink. Kenma pulled himself to an upright position on the couch, slipping his hands through his sweatshirt pocket- his way of letting Tetsurou know he wanted to join in on drinking tonight.

Smiling to himself, Tetsurou made his way to the couch, setting down the bottles before plopping down next to Kenma. Reaching his left arm back, he wrapped it around Kenma and pulled him close, ignoring the shorter’s annoyance. Just then, Koutarou emerged from the kitchen, Keiji close behind. Judging by the redness around his mouth, Keiji had just eaten dinner. Kenma curled into Tetsurou to avoid looking at the raw meat.

“Hey bro, could you wipe his face?”

Koutarou looked confused for a second, tilting his head for Tetsurou to elaborate. Once the latter gave a gesture towards Keiji, the former's face morphed into an understanding one. After setting the ochoko down on the table in front of the couch, Koutarou pulled Keiji into the kitchen once more. Wiping down the half-dead's face was easy- he had become oddly calm after eating and didn't fight Koutarou’s rough use of paper towels.

While the two were gone, Tetsurou poured sake into the 3 small glasses. Once they were full, he reached for one and gently slipped it into Kenma’s hand. Nodding his thanks, Kenma took a small sip from the cup, wincing a bit at the strength. 

Finally, the others returned. Keiji moved to sit on the floor, which led Koutarou to do the same. They were a bit squished as a result of the T.V behind them, and it baffled Tetsurou that Koutarou was able to fit there at all.

“Well, cheers!” Koutarou offered, picking up his own glass and bringing it to his lips.

“Hey, Bo, what do you say I get a board game?” At Koutarou’s nod, he continued, “Alright where do you guys keep them?”

Following Koutarou’s instructions, Tetsurou found a small closet. What first caught his attention was the cleaning supplies with small red smudges on them. It took a second of looking before Tetsurou found the familiar-looking board for Go. Grinning to himself, he pulled down the game and brought it back out.

Koutarou was pouring himself another glass, whether it was his second or third was unclear. Kenma had finished only half of his glass from earlier. Gently scooting aside the bottles, Tetsurou placed the board on the table.

“I’ll be white,” He informed, sliding the black chips to Koutarou’s side.

“Hey!” Koutarou protested, “What makes you think I’m the weaker player?”

“It is what it is,” Tetsurou shrugged as he placed down the first stone.

Deciding to drop the matter, Koutarou placed down his own stone.

The game went on for a while, a result of Koutarou demanding multiple rematches. Spirits were high in the apartment, joyous laughs ringing out every so often. By the end of the night, Kenma had drunk 3 cups, Tetsurou 7 and Koutarou an indeterminable amount. Having the lowest tolerance, Kenma had passed out early on. This left an intoxicated Tetsurou and Koutarou alone with a half-dead. Trouble was brewing in the air.

“Hey, ey Bo. Why ‘aven’t we changed ‘kaash yet?” Tetsuro slurred, grabbing a pinch of a nervous Keiji’s shirt.

“Ionno, he’s really dirty so we should, huh.”

With that, Koutarou began to roughly roll Keiji’s shirt over his head. It was a hard task. Cotten from the shirt clung to Keiji’s exposed flesh. The smell was absolutely putrid. Pale green skin clumped together, held in rough balls by a deep maroon. Areas of his skin were completely burnt off where the chemical had reached. Tetsurou turned away, sobered by the sight.

Koutarou didn’t appear to be in the same situation, he folded the soiled shirt and set it aside. A look of odd sadness fell over Keiji’s face at this reaction. It wasn’t exactly his fault that his body was disintegrating.

“I’ll get new clothes.”

At this, Tetsurou stood up and stumbled to the master room. His body felt weird, limbs heavy from the alcohol, but mind oddly clear. Even his vision was still affected by the sake. After stumbling on the walls for a few moments, Tetsurou returned to the other 3 with a fresh outfit tucked under his arm.

Koutarou had finished undressing Keiji, the rest of his body was just as bad as his core. Once again looking away, Tetsurou tossed the clothes to Koutarou.

“Can’t he dress ‘imself?” Tetsurou asked.

“I… c… ah...nnn,” Keiji spoke up, moving to grab the clothes out of Koutarou’s hands.

It was a bit of a struggle for him to pull the clothes on, but after a minute or so he was fully dressed. The thick fabric was able to hold the smell in well, and the clean clothes greatly improved Keiji’s outward appearance. They didn’t hide the fact that Keiji was half-dead, but they helped nonetheless.

“Do you think he sleeps?” Tetsurou wondered out loud.

“Mhrmn,” Keiji responded, standing up to leave.

“Is that a yes or…”

In response, Keiji disappeared into the bedroom.

“I think tha’s a yes,” Tetsurou leaned his back against the apartment wall.

Silence fell among the two as they were left alone with their thoughts. Tetsurou began to think about who had lost during the apocalypse.

-Flashback-

“So Kei, we’re still on for tonight?” Tetsurou crooned over the phone.

“I’m on my way right now,” Kei responded, a loving tone highlighting his coldness.

“Alright~ I’ve got reservations, so don’t be late!”

“Where? McDonald’s?”

Tetsurou cackled into the phone at that.

“No, but it’s a surprise! Just meet me at my apartment, I have an outfit for you.”

Tonight marked a year since the two had begun dating, Tetsurou had spent weeks planning the night. Romance was far from his strong suit, and to be honest he was thinking of going to McDonald’s at first. The only reason he didn’t was Keiji’s advice. The restaurant he recommended was beautiful, a great improvement from McDonald’s.

“Oh hey, there’s some crazy airplanes flying ove- SHIT!”

“Kei? Hey! Kei! What happened? Are you alright?”

Panic surged throughout Tetsurou as a loud crash echoed through the phone speaker. He could hear Kei groan before a dial rang out.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he swung open his apartment door. Screams quickly reached his ears. At the sight of the first burning human, Tetsurou closed the door in fear. tEars quickly rushed to his eyes at the thought of whatever happened to Kei.

“Kuro? What’s going on?” Kenma asked as he walked out, rubbing his eyes.

“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” He stood up, walking over to Kenma and enveloping him in a hug.

“We should head over to Bo’s place,” Tetsurou mumbled.

“Why?”

“Safetly in numbers.”


	5. 6 and a Half Souls

Pain pounded at the back of Kenma’s head as he pulled himself into an upright position. Leaning heavily on his left arm, he began to rub at his eyes in an attempt to wipe away his weariness. A sharp ache shot down his right wrist, causing him to quickly pull away. Sighing, Kenma stretched his arms out in front of his body, a wide yawn taking over his face. Tears edged his eyes as the yawn went on.

“Morning,” Tetsurou greeted from the kitchen at the sight of Kenma’s head, a steaming cup of coffee resting in his hands.

“Mm,” Kenma mumbled back, slowly pulling himself to his feet.

He stumbled back slightly as black dotted his vision. Squeezing his eyes shut, he stuck his left arm out to use the couch as support. Once the wave of dizziness subsided, he continued on to the kitchen. Splashes of various volumes sounded from where Koutarou was doing dishes in the sink. Tetsurou slid a warm cup of coffee over to Kenma which the latter accepted with a small smile. Steam danced above the mug, bringing with it the familiar scent of coffee which drifted up Kenma’s nose as he inhaled deeply. Ignoring the way the strong scent punched him in the gut, Kenma took a small sip.

“What’s the move for today?” Tetsurou queried, looking down at the deep brown liquid in his cup.

“Well, we’re good on supplies,” Koutarou thought out loud, “We could look for more people, but I don’t think they’d like Keiji.”

As though he heard his name, the half-dead in question began banging on the closet door.

“Shit, Bo, did you forget to take him out this morning?”

Koutarou’s face fell as he hurried off to free Keiji from the small closet. Less than a minute late, the two returned to the kitchen, a slightly annoyed look stamped on Keiji’s face. Opening the fridge, Koutarou pulled out one of the various packages of meat. Keiji’s eyes widened at the sight, he was visibly hungry at this point. Smiling, Koutarou sliced open the package and handed it to an eager Keiji.

Kenma groaned as he turned away from the sight, trying his best to block the slurping noise from his ears.

“What were we talking about?” Koutarou began, furrowing his brows in thought.

“What we’re gonna do today,” Tetsurou reminded.

“Oh, right! So, we could try to get outside communication, I don’t think the whole world is like this. Or, we could try to meet up with some other people here, with enough luck we could run into someone we know.”

“I dunno if meeting up with people would be a good idea, but we could explore,” Tetsurou commented, standing up to set his now empty mug into the sink.

“I wanna go out,” Kenma suddenly spoke up, his left fist clenched on the table.

His cat-like eyes were furrowed in determination and glued to his coffee. A wall of dark hair shielded his face from the other 3 occupying the room.

“So does that mean we get to bring Keiji too?” Koutarou chimed in.

Keiji looked up out of curiosity. The meat container was licked clean, contrasting the mess on the half-deads lower face.

“What if we went in pairs? Kuro and I could walk while you two take the car,” Kenma offered, peaking at Koutarou through the gaps in his hair.

“I like that idea!” Koutarou exclaimed, squeezing the end of Keiji’s leash.

Keiji cocked his head to the side in confusion. He didn’t think it was a smart idea to go out, last time they did the two returned to the apartment with sour looks and bad auras.

“Mhrng,” he grunted out in protest, unable to form words.

“Hm? What’s up Kei?” Koutarou asked, his face falling from excitement.

“Duhhhrrrn,” Keiji tried, his mouth failing to form the words.

“C’mon, use your words.”

Koutarou’s attempt at encouragement was met with a glare.

“Dayyy… nnnn,” Keiji finally forced out, “Geee… rrrr… us.”

“Oh c’mon, don’t worry we’ll be fine! The things out there aren’t as scary as they seem,” he paused for a second, the memory of Nobuyuki slamming against him. Doubt began pooling in the pit of his stomach as he imagined the possibility of running into another of his past friends.

Seeing how Koutarou’s mood slipped, Tetsurou gave him a hearty slap on the back, “Yea, Bo came face to face with one and made it out fine.”

“Hmm,” Keiji turned his head away, putting his lips out in a pout.

The idea of leaving the safety of the apartment didn’t feel like a good idea to him. However, the body language of the others in the room told Keiji that he didn’t have a choice on the matter.

“So, 10 minutes sound good?” Tetsurou prompted, looking between Koutarou and Kenma.

They both gave nods of varying enthusiasm in response.

-Meanwhile-

“I feel like I’m in some kinda action movie!” An enthusiastic voice rang out, echoing in the bare alley.

“Will you ever shut up, Lev?” Their comrade responded as he pulled his machete out the skull of a half-dead.

“Hey! It’s not my fault that we look totally bad-ass right now,” Lev defended with a huff, walking up to his teammate.

“Bad-ass? We’re covered in whatever the hell those shits keep spitting out.”

“Oh come on, Morisuke, Lyovochka has a point,” A third, more femenine voice pointed out from a few steps away.

“Easy for you to say, Alisa. Not all of us prepared outfits for a zombie apocalypse,” Morisuke responded, motioning to the woman's deep necked leather jacket and neatly combed hair.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Lev interrupted, eying Morisuke’s suspiciously apocalypse appropriate outfit.

The shortest of the three was sporting a faded baggy red tee which tucked into washed black jeans just at his waist. Decorating his waist was a leather toolbelt which carried bottles of water, weapons and first aid tools. A soft blush ran to Morisuke’s cheeks at Lev's comment about his outfit. Not that he would admit it, but the ex-libero had been planning for a possible apocalypse since his first year at Nekoma. Very few people knew about it, and those who did teased him. Tetsurou found his hidden stash when he came over to study once and laughed at him for a solid minute.

‘Who’s laughing now?’ He thought to himself with a grin at that memory.

“We should shut up now,” Morisuke commented out loud, “plus we need to continue walking.”

“Where are we even going again?” Lev whined, “My legs are tired.”

“We’re looking for a new place to live,” he responded, fighting back to urge to yell at Lev for complaining.

Anger returned to him at the mention of their current goal. The only reason they were in this predicament was Lev’s lack of focus. After returning from retrieving food last night Lev had failed to lock the door behind him. Fortunately, Alisa woke up early and caught one of the half-deads just before it could take a bite out of her brother. The rest of the morning was a flash of killing half-deads and stuffing as much supplies as possible into backpacks. First thing they did after leaving their infested house was walk over to Tetsurou and Kenma’s apartment. It was difficult for Morisuke to hide his sadness at the vacant apartment.

“Do you want a piggyback ride?” Alisa offered, bending forward at the waist to give Lev easy access to her back.

After a moment of debating in his head, Lev declined the offer. The idea of relaxing was tempting, but he had grown taller than Alisa and the last thing he wanted was to hurt her back. Besides, his legs weren’t actually too sore, he merely wanted something to complain about.

“Okay guys you know the formation,” Morisuke commented as he stepped out into the open street.

Alisa walked behind him and to the right a little bit, Lev to the left. They were each facing away from the center to properly watch the area. Morisuke didn’t have a destination in mind, but his legs were carrying him in a familiar direction.

Suddenly he stopped and hunched over slightly. Off in the distance there was talking. Morisuke cuffed his hands over his ear in search of the source.

“Why are we stopped?” Levs all too loud voice rang out.

“Shhh! I hear something.” Morisuke spat.

“No, no no you don’t understand,” the voice said, “The thing was all like buaahaaaa and Bo was all like AAHHHH HUUUU and then the thing was all like WoOOaH! It was crazy.”

“Is that-”

“Kuro. You’ve said that story at least five times. Please focus,” Another familiar voice entered.

A smile forced its way onto Morisuke’s face as realization struck of who the voices belonged to. Before he had a chance to think it over, he began fast walking around the corner. Tetsurou assumed a defensive stance at the sudden movement, not quite sure if it was an enemy or ally.

“Hey! Didn’t expect you to survive this long,” Morisuke greeted.

“The only reason you’re still alive is because you started collecting shit since, how long ago?” Tetsurou teased back, his body relaxing.

To be completely honest, the familiar faces were incredibly comforting for both parties.

“So is it just you three?” the taller inquired upon noticing the Haiba’s presence.

“Yea, and are you two alone?”

“No, we’re with Bo and... kinda Akaashi,” Tetsurou replied.

“Kinda? The hell does that mean?”

“He’s infected.”

“What?” Morisuke shouted, “Why haven’t you killed it yet? I know it’s hard but you’re risking death being around one of those things.”

“I… It’s weird. He’s like still there,” Tetsurou paused in thought. It was clear that this was something he’s put a lot of thought into, “I mean, he knows how to clean and kinda talk. And he hasn’t done anything bad so there’s not really a reason to.”

“Clean where?” Morisuke inquired without thinking.

“Our apartment.”

His ears perked, “Oh? Do you think it has room for 3 more people?”

“Well not ours specifically,” Tetsurou paused to scratch the back of his neck, “You can probably stay in a neighboring one though. No ones there to stop you.”

“Great, take us there.”

“Wait wait wait, how do I know you’re not gonna kill ‘Kaashi?” As soon as the words left his mouth Tetsurou recoiled.

Not even half a week had passed since he first met Keiji and tried to convince Koutarou to kill him.

“Hey is your wrist okay?” Morisukes commented, snapping Tetsurou out of his thoughts.

“Mm, I fell,” Kenma deadpanned, his left hand hovering protectively over his right.

His eyes glanced down and to the right, signalling that there was far more to the story than a simple fall. Fortunately, the tired Morisuke left it and motioned to Tetsurou to begin walking back. Tetsurou, however, took note of this and made sure that he would bring it up later.

-

“Keiji!” Koutarou screamed at the top of his lungs, “Behind you!”

The ally half-dead ducked forward as Koutarou jumped over him and body slammed the hostile creature to the ground. Before it had a chance to bite him, he quickly brought his machete down onto the zombies head. Black goo splattered Koutarous already soiled front and leaked out on the asphalt under the now dead creature.

“Did you see that? Keiji? Didya? Didya see how I went poom! And it went bomph! And then I went swoop! And then it went all sploosh!” Koutarou’s eyes were shining as he retolded the events to a slightly smiling Keiji.

“Hrmn, go… guh... good.”

This trip had been considerably more eventful than the last. The two have crossed paths with multiple half-deads which Koutarou was able to expertly eliminate- Keiji even got one of his own, kinda. It was messy and weird, Keiji seemed to know a weak spot though and with one swift jab it was down.

“Alrighty, do you wanna keep walking? I think we’re like 5 minutes away from the car, or we can keep going forward and see if we find anything,” The way Koutarou said to two options heavily implied is preference to do the latter.

“Mnmr.”

“Taking that as a move forward.”

With that, Koutarou began walk-skipping with excitement. Vague familiarity rested deep in his mind as the blood stained and cracked buildings moved past him. The streets he was walking were the same ones that he had travelled for years, but vandalism had worn them down past visual recognition. It made sense- who wouldn’t take to the streets in riot after finding out their live had turned into some twisted halloween movie. Shaking off the chills that travelled down his spine, Koutarou turned the street and turned pale.

Limping half deads drowned the street, everywhere Koutarou looked was either blood or a half-dead, or even a human carcass. Pure fear slammed against his gut like a wreaking ball. He let out a choked scream which alerted the horde of his presence. At first only one started walking to him, but that one alerted another, which alerted another and so forth.

Exploration time was over.


End file.
